10/08/2012

Building State Capability in Mozambique's Judicial Sector

I have been in Mozambique over the past week, in an exercise related to the Harvard Building State Capability (BCS) initiative. One of my focal points has been the Judicial sector, where the government is pursuing exciting initiatives that could enhance their capability to function.

First, the government is focused on developing a database in which they have information about all their cases -- at court house level -- with data about judges, buildings, expenditures and other inputs. The idea is to see the relationships between inputs and results...with a goal of budgeting with more strategic information, the Minister having an information dashboard, etc.

This is a big deal. The government has been trying to develop a 'best practice' case management system for over a decade--with no functionality of the system. So, getting a functional system will be pretty amazing, and the government aims to do some basics within eight months. Wow. This could really change the way Mozambique's judicial sector works.

Today I saw the Minsiter, Deputy Minister, Permanent Secretary and other senior officials to discuss this (see photo below, bad quality from my blackberry but what great people they are). The group agreed to go 'poco a poco' (little by little). In the language of PDIA, this is like saying 'step by step'. The first step is set for completion on November 1... and then we will all convene to see what was learned and what is next.

The Minister is third from left. She is also a graduate of the Leaders in Development program at Harvard.

We also discussed plans to build two new courthouses in the districts. This does not sound like much, but only 3 new court houses have been built in the past 5 years. Imagine if 2 get built next year, and 2 in the year after, and 2 in the year after. This is how you build the know-how and capability necessary to make justice work for all.

The challenge is, again, complex--mostly because of the many players involved in the health sector. Right now the government is being ably supported by the World Bank who are using an innovative results based mechanism to inspire results. Government is also being supported by DANIDA.

But again, this is a 'poco a poco' process. I intend to tell you how it goes month by month.

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Are there any background documents or resources I can access to see the detail of the work being done. I work for the Planning Secretariat in Honduras, and we are currently trying to design a results based management approach for the judicial sector. Any input is welcomed.